YOpassDAmike
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2015
- Messages
- 103
- Reaction score
- 2
Hello,
I am a big fan of hoppy beers; therefore, I find myself brewing a lot of apa and ipa's. Generally speaking my grain bill for my apa or ipa consists of base malt and some wheat and/or Munich 10L, no crystal malt. During the boil, I usually use 5-7 ounces of hops. Generally I use a high alpha acid hop either around the 60 minute to 40 minute mark to get my desired IBU's, this usually only takes about a quarter of an ounce to achieve. Then for the rest of my ounces of hops I add them all in between the 15 minute to 0 minute mark. I mostly use dual purpose hops and aroma hops. I also dry hop with about 3 ounces of hops for about 3-5 days for a 5 gallon batch. I want to develope a big juicy ipa with the hop flavor and aroma that is presented in many of my favorite commercial examples, but my apa and ipa always come off as being dull and boring. My apa and ipa usually have faint aroma and flavor. Therefore, is there something I could be doing better, such as changing up my hop schedule or dry hopping time?
I also had a water report conducted by ward labs. I alter my water mostly with gypsum but I also do use a little calcium chloride. I like to get my sulfate level to about 250ppm for my hoppy beers. I will note that I only add gypsum or calcium cholride during the mash. I have heared of people using gypsum or calcium chloride during the boil as well. Will adding to the boil be the solution to my problem? I do a ratio of about 2 parts distilled water to 1 part tap water to cut down on bicarbonate. The tap water I do uae I treat with a cabdean tablet to kill of the chlorine . Using gypsum and calcium chloride, I get all of my minerials in the recommended range for beer.
In the past I have tried doing a hopstand with about 3 ounces of hops for 30 minutes. I would chill the wort to about 160 degrees and then perform the hopstand. Doing the hopstand was not the solution to my problem, it didnt help that much.
I also want to add that when I dry hop, I ensure primary fermentation is over. Then I transfer my beer from the primary fermenter to a secondary fermenter to let any potential stuck co2 in the beer to escape. I use hop pellets for boil and dry hopping. When I dry hop with pellets, I put them in a hop sock or grain bag. I also try to submerge my hop bag with 304 stainless steel washers, but a lot of instances, I find that with time the hop bag will still float up near the surface of the beer. I think I need to get heavier washers but I do not think this will be the answer to my problem. I think heavier washers will definitely help, but I do not think it will give me that juicy/ hoppy ipa.
Just to provide a little more info that may help, I always use a US-05 dry yeast to ferment. Are my methods solid? Do I jist need to increase my ounces of hops? Of I increase my hop usage, will my beer get vegetile?
Any advice or help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
I am a big fan of hoppy beers; therefore, I find myself brewing a lot of apa and ipa's. Generally speaking my grain bill for my apa or ipa consists of base malt and some wheat and/or Munich 10L, no crystal malt. During the boil, I usually use 5-7 ounces of hops. Generally I use a high alpha acid hop either around the 60 minute to 40 minute mark to get my desired IBU's, this usually only takes about a quarter of an ounce to achieve. Then for the rest of my ounces of hops I add them all in between the 15 minute to 0 minute mark. I mostly use dual purpose hops and aroma hops. I also dry hop with about 3 ounces of hops for about 3-5 days for a 5 gallon batch. I want to develope a big juicy ipa with the hop flavor and aroma that is presented in many of my favorite commercial examples, but my apa and ipa always come off as being dull and boring. My apa and ipa usually have faint aroma and flavor. Therefore, is there something I could be doing better, such as changing up my hop schedule or dry hopping time?
I also had a water report conducted by ward labs. I alter my water mostly with gypsum but I also do use a little calcium chloride. I like to get my sulfate level to about 250ppm for my hoppy beers. I will note that I only add gypsum or calcium cholride during the mash. I have heared of people using gypsum or calcium chloride during the boil as well. Will adding to the boil be the solution to my problem? I do a ratio of about 2 parts distilled water to 1 part tap water to cut down on bicarbonate. The tap water I do uae I treat with a cabdean tablet to kill of the chlorine . Using gypsum and calcium chloride, I get all of my minerials in the recommended range for beer.
In the past I have tried doing a hopstand with about 3 ounces of hops for 30 minutes. I would chill the wort to about 160 degrees and then perform the hopstand. Doing the hopstand was not the solution to my problem, it didnt help that much.
I also want to add that when I dry hop, I ensure primary fermentation is over. Then I transfer my beer from the primary fermenter to a secondary fermenter to let any potential stuck co2 in the beer to escape. I use hop pellets for boil and dry hopping. When I dry hop with pellets, I put them in a hop sock or grain bag. I also try to submerge my hop bag with 304 stainless steel washers, but a lot of instances, I find that with time the hop bag will still float up near the surface of the beer. I think I need to get heavier washers but I do not think this will be the answer to my problem. I think heavier washers will definitely help, but I do not think it will give me that juicy/ hoppy ipa.
Just to provide a little more info that may help, I always use a US-05 dry yeast to ferment. Are my methods solid? Do I jist need to increase my ounces of hops? Of I increase my hop usage, will my beer get vegetile?
Any advice or help is greatly appreciated, thanks.